Houston's bats have a hot night
Astros clobber Rangers to win series opener
Sep 24, 2020, 10:20 pm
Photo by Rob Carr/Getty Images
Astros Alex Bregman
After dropping two of three in Seattle, the Astros entered the regular season's final series still waiting to clinch their playoff berth. Luckily their matchup favored them, with four games against the 19-37 Rangers, which they have done well against in recent years. Here are highlights from the opener:
Final Score: Astros 12, Rangers 4.
Record: 29-28, second in the AL West.
Winning pitcher: Cristian Javier (5-2, 3.48 ERA).
Losing pitcher: Lance Lynn (6-3, 3.32 ERA).
Astros put up 10 on Lynn
Houston had no trouble getting acquainted with the Rangers' new stadium, jumping out to an early lead in the top of the first inning. After a lengthy at-bat against Lance Lynn, Jose Altuve reached on a one-out single, then scored from first on a two-out RBI-triple by Alex Bregman. They'd double their lead in the next at-bat on an error, making it 2-0.
Absolutely crushed 🚀#ForTheH pic.twitter.com/bjT2eNjXc1
— Houston Astros (@astros) September 25, 2020
They extended that lead even more in the next inning, getting back-to-back singles to start the inning to set up a big three-run dinger by George Springer to straightaway center-field to make it 5-0. Bregman added two more RBI to his night in the top of the fifth, capitalizing on a leadoff single by Michael Brantley by hitting a two-run homer to make it a 7-0 lead. Altuve would push the total to double-digits in the top of the sixth, lifting a three-run home run of his own to make it a 10- lead.
Javier with a decent start, bullpen closes out the win
Meanwhile, Cristian Javier was doing well on the mound against the Rangers. He allowed just three baserunners through the first five innings, a double in the first, a hit batter in the second, and a single in the fifth. He would falter a bit in the bottom of the sixth, allowing a leadoff single then a two-run homer, then later in the inning a sac fly, making it 10-3 before Houston would turn to their bullpen. Javier's final line: 5.2 IP, 5 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 1 BB, 6 K, 1 HR, 95 TP.
Luis Garcia would get the final out of the sixth then returned for the bottom of the seventh, allowing a leadoff double that would score on a two-out RBI-double, making it a six-run game before Garcia finished the frame. Brooks Raley was the next reliever and notched two strikeouts in a 1-2-3 inning in the eighth.
Josh Reddick gave Houston two more insurance runs, joining the home run barrage with a two-run homer in the top of the inning to make it 12-4 going to the bottom half. Brandon Bielak was given a low-leverage opportunity to throw in the bottom of the ninth. He erased a two-out double for a scoreless inning to wrap up the lopsided win, lowering Houston's magic number to 1.
Up Next: The second game of this four-game set between Houston and Texas will start Friday at 7:05 PM Central at Globe Life Field. The pitching battle will be Kyle Cody (1-1, 1.53 ERA) for the Rangers and Jose Urquidy (1-1, 2.78 ERA) for the Astros.
Gunnar Henderson and Luis Vázquez homered and Trevor Rogers worked seven strong innings as the Baltimore Orioles beat the Houston Astros 3-2 on Sunday to avoid a series sweep.
Rogers (7-2) allowed five hits and three walks and struck out nine. The 27-year-old left-hander moved past two Hall of Famers with his 1.40 ERA through the first 13 starts of a season. Hoyt Wilhelm set the club record with a 1.50 ERA in 1959, and was followed by Jim Palmer’s 1.55 ERA in 1975.Keegan Akin struck out three in 1 2/3 scoreless innings for his third save.
Henderson hit his 16th homer, a solo shot off Spencer Arrighetti (1-5) in the first, to give Baltimore the lead. Ryan Mountcastle had an RBI single in the sixth and Vázquez made it 3-1 in the seventh with his first big league homer.
Arrighetti gave up two runs on six hits in 5 2/3 innings. John Rooney relieved Arrighetti in his debut and allowed a run in 1 1/3 innings. Craig Kimbrel struck out two in a scoreless inning in his first game with the Astros.
Jeremy Peña had an RBI single in the third and Victor Caratini drove in a run with a sacrifice fly in the eighth for Houston.
Key moment
Akin entered with one out and the bases loaded in the seventh and allowed only the sac fly to preserve the lead.
Key stat
Arrighetti retired 15 batters in a row following his four-hit first inning.
Up next
Tomoyuki Sugano (10-5, 3.97) gets the start for the Orioles in a home series opener against the Red Sox on Monday.
The Astros turn to Hunter Brown (10-5, 2.36) to lead off a series against the Rockies on Tuesday.